On the map we find many eponyms, such as "America", from "Americo Vespucio"
The Greek word epṓnymos came to Spanish as an eponym . This is the name given to the individual or place whose name is used to name a region, a town or something else .
One name from another
Generally, the creation of an eponym is a tribute . In ancient times, eponyms were often used to name periods of time after the rulers of the time .
This formula is known as the eponymous year . In ancient Rome , to mention one case, forms such as the year of the emperor or the year of the consulate were used.
One of the best-known eponyms is Américo Vespucio , who gives its name to the continent of America . Christopher Columbus ( Christophorus Columbus in Latin or Cristoforo Colombo in Italian), meanwhile, is the eponym of Colombia , while Simón Bolívar is the eponym of Bolivia . In some cases there is no change or adaptation between the eponym and the site it designates, such as George Washington and Washington D.C.
Medicine usually uses eponyms to name diseases or disorders according to their discoverer. The German neurologist and psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer , in this framework, is the eponym of Alzheimer's disease or Alzheimer's disease , since he was the one who discovered its symptoms. Austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician Hans Asperger , on the other hand, is the eponym of Asperger syndrome , a manifestation of an autism spectrum disorder.
Construction of an eponym
This concept can be studied from two perspectives: given that there are so many eponyms, and that many of them were created centuries ago, in the previous paragraphs we have listed some of the best known to graph the meaning of this term. However, we should not understand it as something static or that it no longer grows ; On the contrary, new eponyms are very frequently created, and we ourselves can do it informally, since it is not something exclusive to the sciences or academies .
As we pointed out above, an eponym is nothing more than a word that is born from another, which must be a proper name. This gives rise to what we know as neologisms , relatively "new" words or expressions, which are not yet part of the most frequent vocabulary within the language but which will gradually reach such a state. Regarding its construction, we have three basic methods:
* use a generic and join it to a complement through the preposition of , as occurs with Asperger syndrome ;
* simply join a generic to the name, without intermediate terms, as in Diesel engine ;
* leave the original name or adapt it slightly to become the term itself, something we appreciate in America .
The eponym is a kind of trope , a rhetorical figure that uses a word or expression with a different meaning than usual to describe certain concepts. In other words, it replaces one expression with another to which it does not assign its literal meaning, but rather a figurative one.
The Earl of Sandwich created one of the most popular dishes
The history of the sandwich
Sandwiches also have their eponym: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich . According to popular legend, this nobleman requested a piece of meat between slices of bread so that he could continue playing cards while he ate without getting his hands dirty.
This was not as spontaneous as it seems, but it all started when Montagu's passion for card games led him to neglect his diet. His servants were worried, and looked for a way to adapt their dishes to their master's activity, to facilitate the process. It is said that it was then that the mythical count decided to always eat these new foods between two slices of bread , to avoid touching the greasy products directly with his fingers.